Family remains important for Haas

Jay Haas keeps himself busy, with events on the Champions Tour and three grandchildren. He also does his best to find time to spend with his sons, Bill and Jay Jr.

He says he can at least get a hold of one of them, and it’s like talking to both since Jay Jr. caddies for Bill, the 2011 FedEx Cup champion who has been playing at a high level recently on the PGA Tour.

Before the 18th Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach, Jay Haas did spend time with his two sons. The Champions Tour pro said the three of them participated in a fundraiser at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells for their friend and teacher Billy Harmon.

“We just try to get together whenever possible and talk quite a bit,” Jay Haas said Thursday at Newport Beach Country Club. “I try not to get too much in [Bill’s] space. I know he is learning the game. I don’t really tell him a great deal. At least I don’t think I do.”

Jay Haas, who is tied for seventh at the Toshiba Classic after shooting a pair of two-under 69s in the first two rounds, says he does his best to balance himself as a sports psychologist, teacher and father. He thought this could be a tough year for Bill following up his performance to win the FedEx Cup.

“Seemingly, everyone he runs into when I am with him, they are asking about his great shot out of the water,” said Jay Haas. “That’s all great and wonderful, but after a while it gets old …I just told him this year there is going to be a lot of pressure on him — in his mind, there is going to be a lot of expectations.”

Jay Haas said Bill winning the Northern Trust Open at Riviera last month really helped that cause.

Jay Haas has had a great start to the year himself on the Champions Tour. He’s the only one on tour to have three top-10 finishes in as many starts. He won the Toshiba Classic in 2007 and finished runner-up in 2008 after losing a seven-hole playoff to Bernhard Langer.

He missed Toshiba in 2009 and 2010 to attend his daughter’s state tournament basketball games. Jay Haas has always tried to put his family first, even as difficult as that could be as a pro.

Sports have always been important in the Haas family.

Jay Haas noticed a strong competitiveness between his sons as they grew up. They are just 14 months apart. Jay Haas did his best to never push them toward golf. He would ask them if they wanted to play or go hit balls. They never said no.

“Golf was around all the time,” Jay Haas said. “There were balls and clubs around the house. It was never, ‘You need to go practice.’ … I wanted them to play different sports, team sports. They liked basketball.”

Soon enough, the Haas boys started playing golf more often and became passionate about the game. They were competitive against each other in golf, too.

“Bill was beating Jay Jr. more and more,” Jay Haas said. “That was hard on Jay Jr. being the older brother, so maybe that pushed him away from the game, looking back on it now. But if you watched Jay Jr. swing, he has a beautiful swing. Most would say, ‘Wow, what tour is he on.’

“[But he] doesn’t have a lot of confidence when he plays. When you get to a certain level those are the things you need to get to over the next hurdle.”

Confidence remains important for Jay Haas, too, on the Champions Tour. He’s won 15 times on the tour, including one victory last year.

“I know that my window of opportunity is closing pretty rapidly at 58,” he said. “Not many guys have done much after 60. You look at a handful of guys, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and a few guys that have taken care of themselves and played really well. Generally speaking that seems to be kind of that glass ceiling. I’m approaching that pretty quickly. I’m practicing harder just because I know that it’s coming to an end pretty quickly.”

STEVE VIRGEN is the sports editor. Reach him at (714) 966-4616, steve.virgen@latimes.com or on Twitter @SteveVirgen.